One of the best parts about traveling solo? You don’t have to wait for anyone else to say yes to the trip.
“Solo travel after 55 is one of the most exciting trends we see,” says Aleem Ahmed, Business Lead at HotelTonight. “These travelers know what they want, and they’re not waiting around for someone to join them.”
But when you’re the only one navigating airports, checking into hotels and hauling your suitcase, a few details matter more than they might when traveling with a partner.
“I don’t believe getting older should make us fearful about traveling alone, but it should make us more deliberate,” says Jen Curnutt, Founder of Jen33Travel and an Adventure & Luxury Travel Expert.
So before you book that solo getaway, here are three things travel experts say are worth checking first.
Related: The Solo Travel Hack I Wish I’d Known About Sooner
1. Check the Neighborhood, Not Just the Hotel
It’s easy to fall for a beautiful hotel room. But when you’re traveling alone, what’s immediately outside the lobby can be just as important.
“Look at a map before you look at the room,” Ahmed advises.
He recommends choosing a hotel in a walkable, well-lit neighborhood near restaurants and transportation, which can make it easier to explore independently without calling a rideshare every time you leave.
Curnutt takes that research one step further by considering exactly what arrival day will look like. What time does the flight land? How far is the hotel from the airport? Will public transportation still be running? Will the front desk be staffed?
“A cheaper flight is not necessarily a bargain if it leaves you alone outside a closed train station at midnight,” she says.
She also familiarizes herself with the neighborhood and route to her hotel before leaving home so the surroundings aren’t completely unfamiliar upon arrival.
And don’t forget what’s waiting inside the hotel.
Ahmed recommends checking for a 24-hour front desk, elevators and accessible rooms, depending on your needs.
“Knowing someone is downstairs at 2 a.m. and that you won’t be hauling a suitcase up three flights of stairs is real peace of mind when you’re on your own,” he says.
Related: ‘I’ve Been Solo Adventuring For 3 Decades—This Is the One Destination I Recommend to Everyone’
2. Check the Real Solo Price—and the Solo Experience
That $2,000 cruise or tour may look like a steal until you realize the advertised price assumes two people are sharing a room.
“Don’t assume ‘solo-friendly’ means ‘solo-priced,’” says Amy Kilbreath, founder of Port and Passport Travel and a Virtuoso-affiliated luxury travel advisor specializing in Gen X and 50+ travelers.
Solo travelers can face a single supplement, an additional charge that can sometimes push the cost close to what two travelers would have paid.
Kilbreath says that’s slowly changing, with more cruise lines offering true solo cabins and more tour operators reducing or waiving single supplements. Still, always check the total price you’ll actually pay before booking.
Price isn’t the only consideration.
“A trip can accept solo travelers without actually being good for solo travelers,” Kilbreath says.
She suggests finding out what happens after the day’s sightseeing ends. Are there communal tables, solo dinners, group get-togethers or a host who facilitates introductions? And who typically books the trip?
“A 58-year-old traveling solo on a tour packed with families may have a very different week than they pictured when they booked it,” she says.
That’s one reason Kilbreath likes small ships, river cruises and the right guided trips for some solo travelers: You can spend the day independently but still have people to join for dinner if you want company.
Her advice if you click with fellow travelers on night one? “Book tomorrow’s dinner for four!”
Related: The U.S. Travel Destination Everyone Should Visit at Least Once, According to Getaway Guru Samantha Brown
3. Check What You’ll Have to Manage Alone
When you travel with someone else, you automatically have an extra set of hands—and a backup if something goes wrong.
“When you travel with someone, they’re automatically your backup,” Kilbreath says. “Solo, you need to line some of that up ahead of time.”
That means thinking beyond the destination’s highlight reel. Kilbreath recommends researching stairs, cobblestones, walking distances and even whether a cruise ship docks at a port or requires passengers to tender ashore in a smaller boat.
“Dubrovnik’s walls are fantastic,” she says. “They are also not the right choice for every 55+ knee.”
Curnutt, who is 55 herself, takes a similarly practical approach.
“Even though I consider myself pretty fit, at 55, I’ve learned not to assume that I can muscle my bags up a flight of stairs or carry them across a station,” she says.
Before booking, she checks for elevators and luggage assistance, as well as steep streets, uneven terrain and how much walking is actually involved.
It’s also worth knowing who you can call if something goes wrong. That could be a hotel with a staffed front desk, a tour manager, cruise staff, responsive local host or travel advisor. Kilbreath also recommends travel insurance.
The point isn’t to eliminate spontaneity. In fact, Ahmed recommends using one of solo travel’s biggest advantages to its fullest: flexibility.
“Booking as you go, rather than locking in a rigid itinerary, is one of the best parts of traveling alone,” he says.
And if you’re wondering where to start, Ahmed counts Charleston, Savannah and Santa Fe among his favorite U.S. cities for solo travelers over 55 because they’re walkable and welcoming, with plenty of food, history and culture concentrated in relatively compact areas.
After all, traveling alone isn’t about having someone beside you every minute. It’s about knowing you can handle the trip comfortably on your own—and then doing exactly what you want once you get there.
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